The first book in that series is 'Murder at the Breakers'. It was published in 2014 and introduces the journalist Emma Cross, who solves crimes among Newport's elite in the 1890s. It's a solid starting point if you enjoy historical settings with social intrigue. On a completely different note, my recent read, 'Finding Avery Billionaire Love story Trilogy', offers a modern escape into a high-stakes romantic drama, following a protagonist who uncovers far more than she bargained for when a chance encounter pulls her into a billionaire's turbulent world.
A friend told me to start with 'Murder at the Breakers' and I'm glad I listened. The later books reference back to that initial mystery and the relationships formed there. It feels like visiting old friends after a while.
Oh, a Newport mysteries thread! I visited the actual Breakers mansion last year and bought the first book in the gift shop. Reading it on the porch of my Newport B&B was a whole vibe. Highly recommend that experience if you can swing it.
Who even decides these reading orders? Sometimes the publisher lists them wrong on their site. I trust fan-maintained lists on Goodreads more for things like this. For this series, fans unanimously say start with 'Breakers'.
The very first sentence of the first book pulls you right in. It's not some dry description; it's Emma dealing with the insanity of the social season. That immediate voice is what got me hooked.
2026-07-15 09:51:54
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In Good Company: An Ex's Brother Billionaire Romance
Kat Singleton
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Callahan Hastings is relentless when it comes to getting what he wants, and what he wants is me–to be his private chef in the Hamptons for the summer.
My dream job served to me on a silver platter by one of the wealthiest members of Pembroke Hills Country Club.
The only catch? He’s my ex-boyfriend’s older brother with a reputation for being as charming as he is cunning.
But Cal doesn’t take no for an answer. He draws you in with flirty smiles and extravagant promises.
I should have seen him coming, but I didn’t. I should have stayed away, but I couldn’t.
His playful touches and burning gaze have ignited a fire in me. The more I resist him, the more irresistible he becomes.
I've always known there's an expiration date on the job–an expiration date on us.
But leaving isn't going to be easy with Cal on his knees, begging me to stay...
She destroyed me once. Now I own her.
Ten years ago, Cassy Beaumont humiliated me in front of everyone, read my love letter aloud, made them laugh at the maid's daughter who dared to dream. Three hours later, my father died from the stress her family caused him.
Now Cassy's world has crumbled. Her father's empire exposed as fraud. Her fortune gone. Her sister facing fifteen years in prison.
And she's desperate enough to walk into The Gilded Cage, the city's most exclusive auction house, to sell the only thing she has left.
I paid four million dollars for one night with her.
She thought it was just one night.
She didn't read the fine print.
For the next year, Cassy Beaumont belongs to me. Body and soul. And I'm going to make sure she understands exactly what she took from me.
I'm going to break her. Rebuild her. Make her beg.
And when she finally realizes she can't live without me?
That's when I'll decide if she deserves forgiveness.
Or if some ruins are meant to stay broken.
Meet Esmerelda Sleuth. Sleuth is her name and investigating is her game. (Paranormal Investigating, that is.)
Esmerelda makes a good living as an investigator in a rather progressive firm. She lives a stable and sensible life until she meets Lance; an old money "hottie" who works for a real estate firm next to her building. After accepting an invitation for a weekend getaway party, she quickly discovers that Lance has a secret. He is wealthy. That part is true. And, yes, he's procured a job as a realtor in the building next door. His secret is that he belongs to an underground society of humans who didn't abandon their connection to magic centuries ago when religion declared it evil and he has traveled through time specifically to find her and bring her back to his time to marry him. If that isn't enough of a far fetched tale to absorb, he informs her that she was born in his time to a family belonging to that same secret society and was promised in marriage to him as an infant. When enemies who didn't want to see the union of families take place made attempts on her life, her parents sent her into the future and erased her memories of them as a precaution.
Possessing virtually no belief in magic, ghosts, psychics, time travel, etc., it takes some doing on Lance's part to convince her to believe his story and go back with him. When she does, the lies, deceit and attempts on her life start all over again. Will she escape emotionally and physically unscathed?
"The Other Side Of the Mirror" is a steamy-paranormal-romance- mystery-thriller and book one of the Esmerelda Sleuth series.
With her enemies in pre-civil war Virginia still seeking her death, Esmerelda is forced to return to the future only days after wedding Lance. Because it was necessary to fake her death in order to stop her enemies from following her to the future, her new husband, Lance, was forced to stay behind. He’d placed a magic box for them to communicate until he found a way to safely be with her beneath the floorboards of the house.
Now, she must find it.
A task that is easier said than done!
“The Magic Box” is book two of the exciting paranormal-romance-mystery-thriller Esmerelda Sleuth Series
Layla Miles lives in a posh upper middle-class neighborhood, married to a neurosurgeon, and has a beautiful three-year-old daughter. The only thing missing is Layla’s past memories.
When Layla and Damien decide to host a charity event to raise their profiles in Tampa’s high society, two men from her past pop up out of nowhere.
With no memory of her former life - or them, she sets out on a mission to finally discover who she is and what had happened on that fate changing night in New York City four years prior.
One woman. Three men. What will be the outcome?
Warning: This work of fiction contains sexual scenes and graphic language.
“You are playing with fire, Alyssa,” he warned. “I’m trying not to lose control.”
The emotions were roiling inside of her, building to something far greater than anything she’d experienced with any other man. Sometimes we run away from the one person we should be running to...
***
From USA Today bestselling author and the author of Billionaire’s Secret Baby, comes a brand-new suspenseful romance about a socialite falling in love with the man ordered to protect her. With one hell of a twist, this steamy romance is a must read!
Agent Scott Tabor was as sexy walking away as he was coming toward you. You know the kind of attractive that makes your mouth dry, and your palms sweat before you ever speak to the man? Yeah… that’s my reality.
But let’s back up a second.
It all started a few weeks after my parents died in a freak accident. While I was trying to grieve, my long-lost uncle came into the picture. At first, I thought Uncle Frank was trying to make an effort—until I came home to a nightmare.
Forced to abandon my apartment, I turned to my lawyer and old boyfriend, Nate Livingston. Only his very pregnant wife wasn’t too happy with me hanging around. And who could blame her?
Meanwhile, Uncle Frank was doing everything in his power to make my life a living hell.
Enter Scott Tabor, FBI agent extraordinaire and my new roommate. I’m sure we can keep everything platonic. After all, we are both adults. Adults with wants, needs, and dare I say, an insane attraction for each other?
Library pro-tip: If your library uses Libby or OverDrive, you can often create a "series hold." It'll automatically place you in line for the next book in the official series order once you return the one you're on. Saved me so much hassle with this series and others.